Jacquelin Magnay is Olympics Editor of Telegraph Media Group.

London 2012 Olympics diary: Mayor of London Boris Johnson invites defeated rival Ken Livingstone to Games

Left and Right: Ken Livingstone will join his old rival Boris Johnson at the Olympics (Photo: GETTY IMAGES)

Ken Livingstone, the man who led the London 2012 Olympic bid back in 2005, will get to the Games after all.

The man who beat him for the second time in the race to become Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, has extended an invitation to Livingstone to attend the Games – a far cry from the nose-to-nose confrontation of the two in a lift during the election campaign.

“I was cycling and I was thinking about everything and I thought sod it I bet nobody has invited Ken to the Olympics,” Johnson said in an interview with the London Evening Standard.

“So I checked and I rang him today and said I very much hoped he and Emma would be able to come. He sounded very pleased. I do think it’s a bit sad – he played a big role in getting it – and so I’ve given him that invitation.”

Walk to work, win a haircut

Transport for London is desperately trying to get commuters off the tube and rail systems during the Olympic Games to ease congestion, and have now turned to offering free haircut coupons and discount spas to those riding a bike or walking instead.

Commuters can log in their change of transport on a mobile phone app from Recyclebank and TfL which then gives people points towards coupon rewards.

"This is something we will be promoting quite heavily in the leadup to the Games," a Tfl spokesperson said.

All of TfL's toned and groomed commuters – and those that aren't – can also download a fictional film about a love affair on the Central line between the founder of the modern Olympic Games, Pierre de Coubertin, and German political theorist Hannah Arendt.

The idea, of artists Bob and Roberta Smith and creative film director Tim Newton, also includes a series of paintings for Stratford Underground station for Olympic visitors.

Athletes face blackout

The 16,000 athletes and officials staying at the athletes' village won't get chocolates on their pillows each night, but will be able to enjoy black-out curtains and concierge services.

Milos Cerovic, a Yugoslav swimmer at the Sydney 2000 Olympics and assistant manager at the Intercontinental Hotel, Budapest, has been getting the Olympic village ship-shape since March.

His employer, Holiday Inn, the official hotel provider to London 2012, will have about 90 staff catering to the athletes' whims for fresh towels, prime theatre tickets and extra long beds for the basketballers.

"At previous Games athletes have complained the rooms are not dark enough so we used the blackout curtains we use at the hotels to create as comfortable a room as possible," said Cerovic, who has been complimentary of the finish of the apartments.

"(Locog's athlete advisor) Jonathan Edwards and his team have done a phenomenal job, there are televisions, Wi-fi, elevated beds so that the luggage goes underneath… they have ensured previous complaints are non-existent here in London."

Orbit set to open its doors

Anish Kapoor and Cecil Balmond's controversial ArcelorMittal Orbit , located on the Olympic Park next to the aquatics centre and the Olympic Stadium, will reveal its artistic elements when it is opened on Friday.

Love it or hate it, the giant red looping steel structure is a focal point. Mayor of London Boris Johnson is more interested in the huge scale of the project, and will use it as a beacon to attract businesses across the Channel to come to London. London of course, beat Paris to host the Games.

The public will be able to visit the Orbit during the Games – at a cost of £15, but only if they have tickets to gain entry to the Olympic Park.

That restricts Orbit visitors to those who have tickets to watch Olympic events at venues in the Park, or those that have secured one of the 70,000 general Olympic Park entry tickets that will go on sale later this month.

Cool progress for Olympic mountaineer

Kenton Cool, the British mountaineer attempting his 10th summit of Mount Everest has more than the unseasonal dry mountain conditions on his mind at the moment.

Cool is in the midst of his climb to put a rare 1924 Olympic medal awarded to the 1922 British Everest Expedition at the top of the world to fulfil an 88-year old pledge from Lt Col Edward Strutt, the expedition's deputy leader.

Strutt's wish ended in 1924 when George Mallory and Andrew Irvine failed to return from their Everest climb. Cool said he would place the medal – loaned to him by Charles Wakefield, the grandson of expedition climber Dr Arthur Wakefield, at the summit but then carry it back down "rather than add to the mountain of discards".

There is a project to try and gather together all of the 1924 Olympic medals awarded to the alpinists. While acclimatising at camp Cool has also been keen to follow the progress of the Giro d'Italia and the recovery of Mark Cavendish from his nasty fall earlier in the week.